blurred lines
by Ten-Faced
Summary: even angels and demons face similar problems and weep at the unfairness of it all. – demon slayer/angelic buster. For UPP.


_blurred lines_

even angels and demons face similar problems and weep at the unfairness of it all. – demon slayer/angelic buster.

* * *

"Hey! Demon Slayer!"

He tried to run. He _wanted_ to run from this place, the bright and pure Ereve where sinners were forbidden. He was a sinner and as such he was to be cast from divinity like the demon he was because the purity burned at him and his sins until he couldn't take the cleansing pain anymore.

Such harsh punishments. Such a burden. Such great heights.

"Hey, please, wait!"

Just a bit more and he could throw himself off the edge of the floating island in the sky. Who knew whether his tattered wings could fully support him? He didn't. It might even be better for him if his wings failed and he plummeted from the embraces of heaven like a tainted, falling angel.

"Hey!"

Only he had never been an angel, but always a demon. And like a shooting star he would fall and be cast to the earth where he belonged.

Something tackled into his back. Arms latched around his neck and torso and he stiffened, stopping his motion in surprise. The arms around him were pale and slender, with a glowing ring and a dragon-shaped hand cannon of some sort attached to the hand. The scent of sweet osmanthus mingled with sweat reached his nose, making him dizzy.

"Please, Angelic Buster," he said, pointing his eyes up to the sky where they saw nothing at all. Tears were forming, but he fought them viciously. "Please just let me be."_ Let me be free. Let me go. Let me fly away from all this._

"Just listen," she panted, her slender frame around his body shaking with harsh breaths. "Look, I know that you're frustrated and - and _angry _at the fact that you're supposed to kill your brother."

He refused to say anything. No matter what he did, how many people he saved and helped, in the end it didn't matter at all. His past sins had caught up with him and he was being forced to pay in a way that was far worse than death. Karma's cruel and ironic justice. For all those unfortunate souls that had suffered by losing a loved one at his hands would cheer and laugh now, mocking him from beyond death.

"And I know how that feels! But you can't just, I don't know, just _give_ up!"

Already he was a helpless, useless clown controlled with the tangled puppet string that would never straighten out no matter how much he struggled to free himself. Right now he didn't care what anyone thought of him. With a few swift movements he forced her arms off of him and threw her onto the ground before he pinned her there by her slim neck. "What," he snarled, "do you think you know?"

She choked and gasped and scratched at his hand, though she did not break his skin. It was a gentle plea, not a desperate struggle for her life.

"You know nothing," he snarled, but released her. It wasn't her fault. It was anyone's fault but hers, really. She had screamed in protest when the council had released their resolution and had vehemently argued against it even when everyone else in the Alliance had agreed.

All he had done was keep his silence and hold his tongue like the coward he was.

Angelic Buster took large gulps of breath, massaging her neck. "Actually," she rasped out, sitting up and grabbing at the fabric of his clothes when he tried to walk away. "I _do_ know what it's like to have to fight someone you care for."

"So?"

"'So'?"

"So what did you do in your situation?"

The pink-haired Nova so unlike Magnus bit her lip and twisted her face into a grimace. "I fought him."

He turned his head away.

"And then I begged him to come back after I defeated him."

He couldn't attack Damien. Not him. Anyone but him.

"He didn't. Maybe he just didn't recognize me, but he didn't listen. He just . . . shot me a smile and left," her sweet, usually light voice was thick and heavy with tears. "I'll have to fight him again if he hasn't been killed already."

"So your solution is that I let my brother die?"

"No!" she sniffed. "Gods, no . . . . I don't know what's right and wrong anymore, but I know that you can't kill your brother. And you can't kill yourself, either."

"Then, what would you have me do?"

"I don't know . . . ." she repeated, shrugging helplessly and looking frustrated at the unsolvable riddle they were challenged with. There was only one acceptable answer, and a half-million possibilities that could come out of it as a result but none of them were the one answer, the key to their problems. "Maybe you could come with me to Grandis so you can't betray the Alliance here?"

Run from the problem, and leave his brother to kill his allies or be killed by his allies? "I cannot do that."

Her shoulders slumped. "I should have known," she sniffed. "Look, I'm sorry I wasn't of any help, but please, I'm begging you, don't do it. Don't jump."

"I won't," and he meant it. To jump and let himself fall like a meteor would be to run away in the end. "Perhaps . . . perhaps I will try to convince Damien."

"Really?" her voice lightened. "Promise?"

The odds were not in his favor with the gamble he would try. "I promise."

She wrapped her arms around his neck again, this time in an ecstatic embrace of a friend with unconditional trust. He stiffened at the scent of sweet osmanthus rushing and invading his sense of smell, stronger than it had been before, but relaxed just a bit. "Thank you," she said after releasing him.

Perhaps she was channeling her desire for her special person to live and join the good side into his cause. Perhaps her helpful and caring personality was just who she was – Angelic Buster, the angel, the goddess of the battlefield.

It wasn't a solution, really. There was a high chance that Damien would stay loyal to the Black Mage.

He was, however, hoping for the best – just like the angels did. Just like _the_ angel did, he would hope that the person he cared about would make the right choice.

"Thank _you_."

* * *

It's slightly AU, in case no one noticed. No, this is not the sequel to _amaranthine_. That one is still growing like Jack's beansprout. God damn it all stop growing.

In here, after the Alliance found out about Damien the DS was ordered to kill him to prove his loyalty. AB, knowing about how hard it was to attack someone close (bsing here since she had no problems beating up Velderoth) spoke out for him, but was overruled.

Seriously, though, just think about it. Tear/Angelic Buster and Demon Slayer. Both didn't really fit in due to physical differences (Tear has no tail, DS is a half-demon so he doesn't fit with both demons and humans), both have someone they care about working for their respective evil Transcendent and both completely forget to mention it in their storyline. *shot*

Also, _Angel_ic Buster and _Demon_ Slayer. Just saying.

For the Unusual Pairings Project, see profile for more details.


End file.
